Forest of the Questions
by Malady Pond du LesHeuresRoses
Summary: An Immortal woman is sent from the early 21st century to the feudal era; a certain Inu Daiyoukai finds himself inexplicably curious about her situation. Rated T for some violence, possible language.
1. Chapter 1

_This is my first foray into InuYasha fanfiction; it will not strictly follow canon, though I will try to change only minor things to suit the story. There will be some instances where it might seem I'm changing something, but it is simply a character . . . spinning a yarn. For example, Miroku is not someone I would expect to be completely honest all of the time._

 _Please remember to read these little notes I include at the beginning (or, occasionally, the end) of chapters as I explain this sort of thing when it wouldn't make sense to do so within the story._

 _Standard disclaimer: I make no money from this crossover fanfiction. I own nothing but my OFC, Moriko (or whatever other name she chooses to go by) and any other non-canonical characters that might show up during the course of this narrative. I promise to return the timeline and characters to their original state when I'm done playing with them._

 _This story has a bit of Doctor Who in the mix. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it._

 _This story begins when Kagome and co. have gathered less than half of the Shikon no Tama; I admit that I'll be playing loosely with the timeline (some characters will appear at different points from where they did in the manga/anime)._

"Oh, my head," a very disoriented young woman groaned as she dropped to her knees. Once the queasiness subsided, she surveyed her surroundings; she was in a clearing surrounded by trees, a far cry from the multi-level parking garage in Tokyo she'd been in only a moment earlier.

Suddenly, she sensed the approach of - No, it wasn't another Immortal, but, whoever it was, it certainly wasn't someone completely human.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, you were magnificent in taking down that pesky - Oh!" a high-pitched voice cried out as he noticed her and stopped short on the crest of the hill.

She was standing stock still, her hand on the hilt of her sword. If not for the young girl a few steps behind the small green man (Was he even a man, or some other type of being? She couldn't recall having met anyone like him before, but she was too confused to be sure.), her sword might have begun slashing already.

The tall, white-haired man standing between his travelling companions, however, seemed oddly familiar to her. "Please," she began. "Could you tell me where I am?"

The tall man grunted. The green man gawked at her. The girl tilted her head; a two-headed ox lumbered up beside her, chewing slowly on grass.

Realising her mistake, she bowed respectfully. "I . . . am sorry. I do not know how I arrived here, and I fear I left my manners in . . . where I was before, and they have only just now caught up with me."

The tall man grunted again before taking a few steps towards her. "What is your name?"

"M- Moriko, sir."

"And you don't know how you came to be in my forest?" he asked, an eyebrow arching.

She shook her head; his calm demeanour was unnerving. "One minute I was . . . elsewhere . . . the next, I found myself here." Would he believe her if she told him what she believed had happened?

He studied her face and the way her dark wavy hair framed it for a long moment. "You may come along with us . . . if you wish."

"Wha-?!" the green man began to squawk, but he withered under the tall man's stern gaze. "Of - of course, Lord Sesshoumaru. Whatever you say, my lord."

Sesshoumaru turned back to Moriko. "That is Jaken. And this - " he gestured to the young girl " - is Rin."

Rin perked up at the attention. "And this is A-Un," she announced as she petted the ox affectionately. He snorted happily in response.

Sesshoumaru began walking briskly. "Come along, then."

A few minutes later, Rin softly told her that Lord Sesshoumaru was really very kind, but he didn't say much.

"He's not . . . human . . . is he?"

"No. He is a powerful Inu Daiyoukai. He protects us, and we do as he asks. He does not ask much beyond our loyalty."

 _'Inu Daiyoukai - Dog Demon. More than that. Nobility among demonkind, perhaps even royalty,'_ she translated in her head. "How long have you been travelling with him, Rin?"

"Oh . . . many months. Ever since he saved me from the wolves."

Moriko gasped. _Wolves_. Something about what Rin had said so casually sparked a memory - one she was sure wasn't hers.

After what she guessed was another hour of walking, Sesshoumaru announced that they were approaching a village where they could stop for provisions.

 _'I have no money,'_ Moriko lamented to herself. _'Perhaps I could find work. I've certainly been sent back further than a few decades. How was it even -'_

"Here," Sesshoumaru handed her a small pouch. "This should be enough for you to purchase some new clothing and food for you and Rin. Rin, you will stay close by Moriko."

"Yes, my lord," Rin replied with a grin.

In the village, Rin marvelled at the assortment of apparel they found. "Oh, this would look lovely on you!" she enthused as she ran a finger along the hem of a pale blue kimono embroidered with sakura.

Moriko grinned. The proprietor of the shop stepped forward. "Your daughter has excellent taste, my lady. I also have a matching one in her size, if you like."

"Could we, Mother?"

"Well . . ." she tilted her head as though considering. "They are quite beautiful, but we really only meant to look . . ."

He was crestfallen at the thought of a lost sale, then he brightened. "I will include the obi and a hair ribbon. Whichever you like!"

A few minutes later, they left the shop with a kimono and obi each, as well as a few accessories for their hair and sturdy footwear.

"We should get food for at least the next week. We might not stop at another village for a while," Rin suggested.

"Good idea. We'll need a good basket to carry it all in, as well."

"What about this bag? You could strap it onto your back."

"Ooh, much better." As they perused the dried fruits and nuts, Moriko found herself silently thanking whatever higher power could hear her that she had been long-lived enough to be able to survive in this era she'd been unceremoniously dropped into.

"How much tea should we get, Mother?" Rin asked, pulling her from her reverie.

"Oh . . . I do tend to drink more tea when we travel . . ." She placed two sizeable tins in the bag. "There, that should be enough, I hope. What else should we get?"

Once they had enough food to last them for two weeks, they made their way out to a shop that sold paper and writing supplies. Moriko wasn't sure what she'd write, but she had a feeling it would come in handy.

"Were you able to get all you needed?" Sesshoumaru asked when they caught up to the two youkai.

"Yes, my lord," Moriko informed him. "Thank you." She handed the purse of money back to him.

"You'd better hang onto that," he advised her. "You never know when you might need to purchase something."

"As you wish, my lord." A spot beside her left eye began to itch. He grabbed her wrist before she could scratch at it.

"You must not touch that."

"But . . . Why not, my lord?"

"You bear the mark of an Inu Youkai."

"I do?" she asked, confused.

"Receiving it is an event one would not forget. Unless, of course, the one who gave it to you buried your memory of it." He released her hand.

"Why would someone do that?" she murmured more to herself than to him.

He grunted and began walking again.

Jaken hung back to talk to the time-displaced woman. "I do not pretend to know why my Lord Sesshoumaru decided to allow you to travel with us, but I can tell he has quickly become protective of you. You should be honoured by his attention."

"I am, Master Jaken, though I admit I am confused by it. He says I bear a mark, yet I have never seen one in my reflection. Do you see it?"

"Oh, yes. It is as clear as day, there beside your eye. Perhaps only youkai notice it."

"That would make sense. None of the villagers commented on it."

"No problems while you were shopping, I take it?" he asked curiously.

"No, none at all. They were quite helpful, actually. They thought Rin was my daughter, so she called me Mother while we were there."

He hummed in acknowledgement.

"How long have you served Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Oh, many, many years. He killed the demon who had slaughtered many of my kind. I owe him my life."

"And you serve him out of gratitude?"

"Pshaw! It is not mere gratitude that drives my loyalty. He pulled the Nintojo from a waterfall and said that, if I could wield it, I could travel with him. I have been with him ever since."

She nodded along.

"Your sword, Moriko? Is it mere decoration or are you proficient with the blade?"

"Oh, I am proficient. This blade has been with me for a very long time. A gift from . . . an old friend."

"If you don't mind my asking . . . You are not quite . . . human, are you?"

She sighed. "I am . . . a different kind of human. What, exactly, I do not know. None of my kind know."

"There are others like you?" Jaken asked, growing excited at the prospect of a type of being with which he was unfamiliar.

"Yes. Oh, yes. Master Jaken, if we were to encounter another of my kind, and I were to be challenged to a swordfight, there must be no interference. It is one of the rules we follow."

"Rules?"

"We are near a river," Sesshoumaru called over his shoulder. "We shall camp here for the night."

"Yes, my lord," Moriko called back.

As the two girls prepared the area for their stay, Sesshoumaru checked to make sure they had not been followed. He frowned; he recognised that scent, but it was coming from the opposite direction. He wasn't sure if he was ready to introduce the new addition to his group to his half-breed half-brother and his companions. Would they even head this way, or would they go in a different direction to avoid him?

Then he caught sight of them across the river. Inuyasha glared at him. Sesshoumaru huffed out a breath. Kagome said something to the hanyo which the elder brother caught: _Please don't fight him. Save that energy to fight Naraku. We all need to rest._

 _'A wise girl.'_ He turned to rejoin his own group.

" . . . I do enjoy these nuts," Jaken said appreciatively.

"They go nicely with the berries we gathered, don't you think?" Rin added.

"Mm," Moriko agreed. "And these cakes you picked at the baker's are delicious!"

Sesshoumaru grunted. "We may be having visitors a little later. No need to worry, Moriko, it will only be my half-brother and his travelling companions. There will be no need to stand on formality with them."

She nodded and relaxed.

Two hours later, the other group did join them.

Sesshoumaru made the introductions. "Moriko, this is my half-brother, Inuyasha. That is Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. And that is Kagome, another woman displaced in time."

Kagome's eyes flashed eagerly. "Displ- Did you come through the Bone-Eater's Well, too?"

"No. No, I was sent by -" She took a slow, deep breath. "What year are you from?"

"1997."

"'97. Not that long before the year I came from. I was in Tokyo, and I was heading to my car, which was in one of those multi-level car parks, when this . . . this living statue came upon me."

"Living statue?!" most of her audience cried out.

"Remnants from the dawn of time," she explained. "Lonely Assassins, they used to be called. Now, they're - well, in my time, they're called Weeping Angels; they hold their hands up in front of their faces to keep from looking at each other or their own reflections. They are only statues when someone's looking at them, but, once you blink, they can move; they move faster than you can believe. Their touch sends you back in time, and they feed off the temporal energy of all the years you would have lived. The kindest killers, or so some say, they move you back in time and let you live yourself to death. And I'm Immortal, so who knows how much energy they got from me?"

"Imm- What do you mean, you're _immortal_?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous.

"I can die, I just . . . don't stay dead. I've never tested the limits of that, though. The only way I know that absolutely - " She shook her head, wondering if she might have said too much.

"It is all right," came Sesshoumaru's smooth voice. "You need not tell us if you are uncomfortable."

She bowed her head briefly. "If I am wounded, my wounds heal quickly. Small cuts, almost instantaneously. If I am stabbed, say, in the leg, it will take a few minutes."

"And the mark on your eye?" Miroku asked softly.

She looked over at him, shocked that he could see it.

"I could sense the spiritual energy surrounding it," he explained.

"I could purify it for you, if you like," Kagome offered.

Moriko lifted a hand towards her face self-consciously but avoided touching it. "Thank you, but no. At least . . . not until I can remember who gave me this mark and why."

Jaken spoke up. "You said, earlier, that there were rules your kind follow. Would you mind telling us what they are?"

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru warned sharply.

"It is all right, my lord. I believe it is important that you all know. My kind - Immortals - tend to challenge each other to swordfights. The - the point of the battle . . . whoever wins . . . beheads the other. That is the only way I know of that we die. Permanently. With the taking of the head comes a . . . We call it the Quickening. It appears as a lightning storm that envelops and enters the victor. With it, one takes in the power and knowledge of the fallen."

They remained silent for several minutes before she spoke again.

"The rules Master Jaken spoke of include one of non-interference. Once a challenge has been issued and accepted, no other Immortal may enter the fray. The battles must always be one-on-one. We never fight on holy ground; the consequences are terrible for violating that rule."

"Consequences? Like what?" Sango couldn't resist asking.

Moriko's face darkened. "An entire city was once buried by a volcanic eruption because of a battle that spilled into an ancient grotto that was held sacred since Time Immemorial. We all became much more careful after that."

"I can see why," Sango replied. "But what of the two that fought?"

"They were both buried as well, their bodies eaten away by the lava. I went back once, with a group excavating the area, and found where they'd been. I had horrid dreams about it - about their fates - for weeks afterwards."

"Were they friends of yours?" Shippo asked.

"No . . . I barely knew them. I had heard them arguing outside the marketplace before they drew their swords. I was saddened because it was such a loss over something so - They couldn't even remember how their grudge against each other started!" She wiped away at her eyes in frustration. "Please, let us change the subject."

"We collected another jewel shard," Kagome stated, her voice slightly higher than usual.

Moriko gazed at her, awaiting an explanation.

"Oh, the Shikon no Tama. It shattered - A crow demon was stealing it, and I shot at it with an arrow, but I wound up shattering the jewel, and the shards scattered. Even one shard can grant immense power. We're collecting them so this horrible demon, Naraku, can't get the whole jewel and . . . If he were to collect all the shards and assemble the Shikon no Tama, there's no telling what he could do!"

"It's like the Prize," Moriko remarked softly.

"Yes, it would be a great prize," Miroku commented.

"No, I mean . . . among my kind, there is a legend that states that the last remaining Immortal will have the power of all the Immortals who ever lived. That one could - " She swallowed the lump in her throat. "It could mean a time of great progress for the world . . . or a time of neverending darkness." She thought for a moment then mused, "I wonder what would happen if an Immortal had one of those jewel shards?"

They all gawked at her.

"Oh, I was just wondering. I wasn't asking for one. I don't think I could handle _that_ kind of power," she assured them. "There are, however, some I've encountered that wouldn't hesitate to take it, no matter who they had to go through."

"I . . . don't think it would work for someone who isn't a youkai, anyway," Miroku stated slowly. "From what we've seen, humans generally gain no benefits from it."

They all nodded.

"It's getting late," Inuyasha noted. "Maybe we should all turn in for the night."

Her first night in the feudal era did not go well for Moriko. When she finally managed to fall asleep, she dreamt of her past, the future, and the people she'd left behind. She hoped she would survive to that era again, but part of her feared that living in this time, among youkai, could mean the end of her.


	2. Chapter 2

"How was your first night here?" Kagome asked as they went through their morning ablutions.

"Oh . . . It was all right, I just . . ." Moriko sighed. "I had an awful lot on my mind. Things I left unfinished, people who will be worried if they don't - I suppose you went through something similar when you wound up here?"

Kagome wiped the water from her eyes. "Well, yes. But then I discovered I could return to my time through the Bone-Eater's Well."

"Y- You what?" Moriko squeaked.

She nodded. "I go back to see my family every few weeks. And to pick up some supplies not available in this time."

"How wonderful," Moriko remarked sincerely. "I don't suppose it's possible for me to go," she added softly.

"Oh, I'm - I'm sorry. It's a strange thing; only I can go through. Inuyasha follows me sometimes. It's too bad we didn't come back from the same year, or I could let your family know what happened."

Moriko perked up slightly. "You would do that?"

"If I could, yes. Of course," she replied with a warm smile.

She remembered something from a movie. "Maybe I could write a letter, post-date it to be delivered on a day after I . . . "

"Mm-hmm. And I could pick up some things for you, too, if you like."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose."

"It's no trouble. As long as it can fit into my backpack."

Moriko finally smiled. "Thanks. I'll let you know, okay? Any chance you know what year we're in now?"

"Best I've been able to figure is we're in the Feudal Era, about five hundred years from where we started."

"Five hundred years in the past? No chance I'll run into myself, then. That's a relief, I suppose."

"Relief?" Kagome gazed at her quizzically.

The Immortal nodded. "I wouldn't want to . . . There are events in my past I would be loathe to change, people I would really miss if I hadn't met."

"I can understand that. Where were you living around now?"

"Oh . . . Bavaria, or thereabouts. Lovely land out there. Well, I suppose I'll get breakfast started." She rose to rejoin the others.

"Well, you two had a nice little talk," Sango commented as she made her way over and dipped her hands into the water.

"Yeah. I can't imagine what she must be going through, not being able to return to her own time. Even if she is Immortal and could live long enough . . ."

"I know. The thought of waiting, of having left everything and everyone behind . . . At least she's not alone."

They looked over and saw Jaken telling Moriko something, growing more animated by the minute as he did; it seemed he was reenacting an event from his past.

"Yeah," Kagome sighed. "They make an interesting group, don't they?"

"Kind of like us, don't you think?" she said with a smile.

FQFQFQFQ

"And that was how I came to serve Lord Sesshoumaru," Jaken stated with a flourish.

"He really is quite something, isn't he?" Moriko said softly as she gazed in his direction. What was he looking for, staring off into the distance like that? Her eyes were drawn by the sound of Rin's laughter; Shippo was teaching her a game. 'I wish I knew exactly what year this is. I wonder if I've met Connor yet. And where M-'

"It might not be my place," Miroku interrupted her thoughts. "But I wondered if I might speak with you alone for a few minutes."

"I -" She looked at Jaken, who was giving the monk a peculiar stare. "Maybe just for a minute. Excuse us, Master Jaken." She rose and adjusted her obi.

Out of earshot of the others, Miroku asked how her first night in this era had been.

"Oh, it . . . went well enough. I know it'll take time for me to adjust. My first time around this century, I think I was travelling through the Dark Forest."

"You favour forests?"

She smiled briefly. "It seems that way, yes."

"Are you happy? Travelling with Sesshoumaru and Jaken and Rin, I mean."

"It's only been a day, but . . . yes. Yes, I am happy. As happy as I can be, considering the circumstances."

"Oh. Well . . . What I wanted to ask you . . . Might you be willing to bear my child?"

She was struck speechless for a long moment. "I - Are you always so abrupt?"

"Only with women I believe would bear a fine son."

She shook her head, unable to believe he'd propositioned her in such a manner. "I -" She turned to rejoin the others.

Sango rushed over. "Did that lecherous monk grope you?"

"What? Oh. No." Her face scrunched up with disdain. "He asked me to bear his child."

"Why that . . . How hard did you slap him?"

"Slap? I was in too much shock to do anything like that. Kind of wish I had, though. Does he do that often?"

"Ugh, yes. Nearly every village we stop in, he asks the prettiest girls if they would do him the honour of bearing him a son. Part of his reason for doing so is the curse Naraku placed on his family."

"Curse?"

"Mm-hmm. There is a hole in his hand that sucks in everything around him. He keeps it sealed with sutras, but, one day, it will consume him as his father's and his father's before him. If he dies before we can defeat Naraku, he wants to be sure there is a son to carry on the mission."

"I suppose I can understand that. Even if I could bear children, I don't think . . . With what happened to me, I . . ."

Sango nodded. "You have a lot to deal with as it is. How do you feel about our quest to hunt down Naraku?"

"I must admit that I find myself intrigued by this whole thing. Keeping him from obtaining the Jewel . . ." She recalled Connor's determination to stop the Kurgan. "If he must be stopped, I will help however I can."


End file.
